If Dean Clark was a film editor dissecting the video evidence after two games against the Everett Silvertips, most of it would have ended up on the cutting room floor.
There wasn't much worth saving for the Prince George Cougars head coach after he watched his team lose 4-3 Saturday to end their weekend series without a point.
The flurry of activity that went on in the Everett end of the ice in the third period might have worked for the Cougars if they hadn't waited so long to kick their own electrons into motion. It was far too little, too late.
"We did some things right in the third period, our problem was we didn't do enough things right in the first and second periods -- we didn't compete as hard as we need to for five periods this weekend," said Clark.
"We played right into their hands. We worked hard when we thought it was time to in the third period and we have to get it going like that from the start of games. We have too many guys who think their individual success is more important than team success."
The Cats dug themselves a big hole, trailing 2-0 after one period and for the first five minutes handled the puck like it was a hot potato. They fumbled it long enough to allow the Silvertips to strike first with a power-play goal. After Ty Rimmer made a tough save, the puck bounced off a shoulder and landed in the crease and Tyler Maxwell got to it before Cody Carlson could clear it away.
Everett added to the count at 12:28 on a play started by rookie Jari Erricson. The Prince George-born winger blasted down the right wing and heard Josh Birkholz yell for the puck and fed him a drop pass he slapped into the net.
Charles Inglis got the Cougars on board with 8:39 gone in the second period, but just 24 seconds later, Silvertps defenceman Brennan Yadlowski rattled one in off the goalpost to make it a 3-1 game. Brett Connolly's shot from the slot on a power play made it a one-goal game again, and the Cougars had a great chance to tie it a couple minutes later when Inglis was hacked from behind on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot.
But Kent Simpson wasn't fooled by Inglis's forehand deke and at 16:59 the Silvertrips added to their lead. Parker Stanfield's long pass to the blueline sent Ryan Harrison in on a partial breakaway he finished with a snap shot past Rimmer. Stanfield collected two assists Saturday against his former team.
"It's a great feeling to come back here where I used to play for three years and get two wins here," said Stanfield. "The penalty shot really changed the game. It was a great save from Simpson. He's been a real good goalie, always working hard and focused."
The Cougars drew to within a goal midway through the period when Taylor Stefishen redirected Connolly's saucer feed in the slot, but that was all the scoring they could muster. The six-foot-two, 190-pound Silvertips goalie was a Cat-killer with the game on the line late in the third period and he put the stamp on yet another Cougar defeat, making 28 saves to earn his third win of the season over Prince George.
"They came out flying but we weathered the storm pretty good and we didn't let down," said Simpson. "On the penalty shot, I just waited for him to make the a move and I just got a piece of it."
Everett won 4-1 on Friday. In the two games, they outscored the Cougars in all but Saturday's third period.
"We needed that type of effort the whole weekend and we didn't have it," said Stefishen. "They're a fast, hard-working team and when you get down 2-0 it makes it hard. We were not mentally-prepared and we weren't keeping it simple." The loss dropped the Cats' record to 28-28-2-1. With their four-point weekend, Everett (25-25-5-4) is now tied with the Cougars for sixth in the Western Conference, each with 59 points.
The conference-leading Portland Winterhawks will be in Prince George to face the Cats Tuesday and Wednesday.
